Struggling against the almighty tides of eventuality

Saturday, among other things, I went to the Windup Comics (“Comix”?) Fest[ival]. If that wrestling match with punctuation didn’t completely turn you off, you’ll now be entreated to a review of that experience:

I actually really liked it. Like DC Comic-con, it was pretty much a single room, i.e. The Windup Space on North Avenue in Baltimore. It had a completely different feel from that convention, though. More on that “feeling” thing later; first, location: fortunately for me, it was within walking distance (only about 6 or so blocks), so I didn’t have to worry about parking. Had that been a concern, it may have been less awesome because North Avenue isn’t always the nicest of streets. It was my first time at The Windup Space, and it seemed like a nice enough little bar. I can’t speak to the quality of drinks or service, though, cause I was mostly focusing on the comics (and I was poor that day).

As I said, this gathering had a completely different feel than my sole previous experience at a comics gathering. I think that’s because this event focused primarily on the artists, and not the retailers. There were a couple of retailers, but most of the people were actually local, independent, artists and writers. That can be attributed to the difference in who was the chief organizer: from what I understand, DC was organized by a retailer, and Windup was organized by an artist (in fact, one with whom I went to high school) and an art studio. Suffice it to say, without dragging out the comparisons much longer, I walked into DC Comic-con with a decent amount of money and nothing I wanted to spend it on, while I walked into this place and found plenty of stuff I wanted to buy but had almost no money with me.

The artists were all really friendly, and that was pretty great. I came in towards the end of the day, since it started about 1pm and closed at 7pm, and I wasn’t able to make it until after 5:30. In spite of what I heard was lower turnout than expected (maybe due to the rainy day and this being the first such event), everyone was pretty happy and readily willing to interact with me, explain what they were doing and selling, and just be generally quite congenial. I found a couple of things I really wanted to get, a couple of things I thought would be cool to check out, and a couple of things that were neat but not really my speed. Fortunately everyone had plenty of business cards and flyers, and I managed to get something from almost everyone so I could remember to check them out later.

Local Artists' Media

Ultimately I had to whittle down my must-purchase list to one item, which was the Floppy Boy comic on the left. While many things caught my attention, as I said, I stuck with this one because I thought it’d be particularly cool to have something written by someone I know personally. I wound up with Volume 2 rather than Volume 1, though, so I’ll have to pick up the rest of the collection later. It’s a collection of former-webcomics (the server blew up, I think, and if I remember correctly I was told it was “a long story”), which Gavin admitted were pretty hit-or-miss with the comedy, but I thought were pretty entertaining.

I’ll try to remember to update this later with links to the artists, as was my original intent, as the picture of a stack of flyers is clearly not legible enough to make them out, but I don’t have the physical copies with me. Hopefully in the meantime this link to Interrobang’s page on the festival (with list of artists) will suffice.

In closing: it was really an awesome show, and I’m glad I went. From what I heard from the organizers, they’re going to try to do it at least annually, if not twice a year, and I’ll definitely head back for more. If they can keep the same positive energy going towards it, I think it has the potential to turn into a Pretty Big Deal.

I went to DC Comicon this weekend, and the experience was not quite was I was expecting or hoping for. I’ve seen other people’s reactions to it, and they are wildly differing, to say the least. For the record, I agree more with the former than the latter. As a non-collector, it didn’t make me swoon to see leagues and leagues of not-very-recent books on display and for sale. The artists present were scattered around and I couldn’t tell if they were big names or small guys based on their positioning or presentation, and I’m not deep enough in the rabbit hole to intrinsically know the difference on name alone.

But more than that, was the major headache the second blog post mentioned: it was more like a VA Comicon #2. It was in Fairfax, which, while close to DC, is not actually DC. It’d be purely a matter of semantics, but the fact of the matter is that I live in Baltimore, and every extra mile is an extra pain in my ass. Plus, as I’ve discovered from working on a campus that’s huge and it isn’t easy to leave for some food and come back unless you want to eat away two hours, urban location can be pretty important. People should be able to socialize more than saying “Oh, you want at this box? Sure.” That was seriously the most social event I had while there. Of course, the George Mason University was probably the most receptive to the event, or charged much cheaper than any place in the heart of DC would, but if you’re going to announce a DC comics convention, you should be prepared to deal with what being in DC entails.

Aside from that, the logistical problems William mentioned were quite true. I wasn’t driving, so I had my phone out, alternating between the campus map and Google maps, and I still almost wound up leaving the campus accidentally before I turned around and got to the parking lot. We were followed from there by someone who had even less of an idea how to get there than I did, so I was feeling the pressure when it turned out we went up and around a building needlessly. Damn social anxiety. Then I was asked for directions on our way out by a deaf guy across the street, and hopefully my wild gesturing was helpful cause I don’t think he was close enough to read my lips and I still don’t know ASL.

One of the bigger busts was not the con’s fault, but my own, in that I was kind of looking forward to meeting the aforementioned William, cause he seems pretty cool and I prefer knowing people in real life when possible. Unfortunately, not realizing that he was likewise looking forward to meeting up and having made several circuits of the floor, I decided to go ahead and head out. Adding to the decision was the fact that I’d almost bumped into a couple of people several times, during which I stopped suddenly, right on my partner’s feet, while he was wearing flip-flops. Since he looked about ready to toss me out the nearest window by the second or third time I did it, it seemed a good idea not to risk further incidents. Again, none of this was anything to do with the con itself, just stuff that happened to…er, happen.

It wasn’t really a horrible experience, but it’s probably not one I’ll repeat unless a couple of things change for next year. It should be in DC. It should be more than a vendor room. It should have clear directions for parking and for getting to the convention. The $5 admission price is well under what I’d expect for a convention, but was about par or above for paying to pay for stuff. I have hopes for next year, but I’m not holding my breath too long.

I am looking forward to Baltimore Comic-Con though, I’ve heard it’s quality.

I’ve had a mishmash of thoughts today, so, what better place to toss them than a blog no one reads? Sure, why not!

First off: Free Comic Book Day was today, and it was fine. I went to Amazing Spiral in the Rotunda shopping center and picked up a couple of trade paperbacks (The Sandman vol. 6: “Fables and Reflections“, and Cable and Deadpool vol. 6: “Separation Anxiety“). While The Sandman series strikes me more like a heady novel-type read, the Cable and Deadpool has already been consumed as “lighter” fare, and was delicious. I know the sacrifice at the end has been undone via comic book magic but it was still pretty poignant, and the balance of the book was pretty hilarious. Still have yet to start the other one.

I picked up a couple of freebies too: War of the Supermen and Thor #1 (I think the second one the guy just threw in cause he was nice, not cause it was meant to be free). I’ve never been big on Norse mythology, and Marvel’s watered-down version certainly doesn’t make me leap for joy, but Thor #1 definitely makes me want to read more of this. Fortunately, it’s a year or two old, so I already can!

Second off: I got in a debate with someone over Steve Jobs’s recent “open letter” on Flash. She lauded him for standing firm on “this controversial issue.” Of course, it ain’t exactly health care and human rights we’re talking about here. It’s about an asshole sitting on top of a mountain of money and guarding it like a rabid Doberman. At any rate, he’s being douchey and claiming to be only acting in the best interests of consumers everywhere.

Hey Steve: shove your concerned protection, please. Thanks.

I don’t think, with a five-minute review process, that any app gets the entirety of its code checked for all possible security threat vectors, nor do I think it’s fully put through its paces to make sure it doesn’t crash (I use a couple relatively “popular” apps that crash all the fucking time). 3D games, lauded on the system, are complete energy whores. At no point does he acknowledge that his “it’s buggy and crash-happy” (paraphrased) argument holds water only when you admit that the entire ecosystem is built around such buggy, crash-happy, energy-sucking apps, mixed in with an overwhelming pile of shitty flashlight and fart apps. You’ve got a few gems, like Foursquare, but a lot of that 100,000+ library is pretty terrible. Anyway, I like my internet with Homestar Runner, and why the fuck do you think I need to be protected from what I want in the first place?

Oh yeah, that’s right, cause you’re a self-centered whiny little bitch. Adobe has been getting smacked around by your financial muscle, strong-armed by a skinny black-turtle-necked jackass who used them up and now that he’s done with them, is posting all the nude photos for everyone to laugh at. Yes, even the one with the bunny ears. Especially the one with the bunny ears. Like I said with the bullshit about Gizmodo, they’re allowed to be just as douchey as the market allows them to be with regards to their closed ecosystem and completely arbitrary approval process, but the key word, underlined and bolded for your convenience, is douchey. This is why I hate those guys, and that’s not even getting into how they’re playing at being Magnum P.I. and trying to go around the police (who are already banging down doors in a highly-suspect potentially-illegal action for them). They’re assholes through and through. The only argument that jumps out at me as logical in the whole tirade was “flash was designed for mice,” and even then it doesn’t have to use that idiom, it just does right now. It’s all preference, and Steve Jobs, in classic “I have the best brain ever, BOOM” douchebag fashion, is cramming his down everyone else’s throats.

Third, and finally, off: I think I’ve figured out what I want to call this blog. It references the blog post I wrote several months ago when I was just starting out. It’s part of a quote I feel really proud of, and that’s what I’d really like this blog to be about: writing I can later look back on and hopefully, for the most part, be proud of. Not all of it will be, of course, as I’ll probably look back on this post later and the inevitable back-and-forth about how justified Apple is in doing whatever it damn well pleases, or that maybe Deadpool is a lot more “deep” than I gave him credit for (anybody?!), and regret that I ever said anything.

Whatever.

The new title of the blog, in case you’re curious (and also stupid, cause it’s now in the header) is “An Oak In The Fall.”

Welcome.